Coolant Heater Lower Grill Outlet

tldemps said:

It took a lot of trial and error to get it to work right
I used a pen and took it apart and kept the cylinder for a shaft
Took the emblem out of the grill
Took dremel tool cut out very carefully on grill so emblem will be able to rotate
Drilled hole through back of emblem the exact size of the pen tube
You will also have to remove some material from back of emblem
Cut tube to length
Slide tube through emblem install emblem and glue ends of tube to grill
The emblem now swivels on the pen tube like a shaft
This was not easy the hole you drill has to be straight and right along the backside of the emblem

Click to expand...

You got some pics of the process, or a bigger pic of it finished? Email it to me at the email in my profile. That is really slick.

I am going to post these pics for tldemps. Sweet idea.

Question, how do you get the plug out? Do you have it tied to something so it is easy to grab?

Hey Guys.

Too funny... it's been pretty darn cold here in Ottawa the last few days and I have been seriously thinking of buying the FrostHeater and was saying to myself... "self, there's got to be a better/cleaner way to plug these things in" so I use this Google thing and come up with this plug:

http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-Genius-GCP1-Black-125V/dp/B009ANV81S

What do you think?

Strangely, I don't even know how I came across this thread, but glad I did.

db123 said:

Hey Guys.

Too funny... it's been pretty darn cold here in Ottawa the last few days and I have been seriously thinking of buying the FrostHeater and was saying to myself... "self, there's got to be a better/cleaner way to plug these things in" so I use this Google thing and come up with this plug:

http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-Genius-GCP1-Black-125V/dp/B009ANV81S

What do you think?

Strangely, I don't even know how I came across this thread, but glad I did.

Click to expand...

Dude, thats the one I bought. Pics will be up soon.

These are some great ideas. I'm gonna order the flap one and mount it on the trailer hitch. My plan it to make it look like those 7 pin ones for for larger trailers

The plug is just zip tied behind grill , I still need to mount a receptacle behind emblem, so for now I have to reach in and pull plug out

Hidden marinco behind license plate

Loved this thread, and it got me thinking. Didn't want to see the plug on the car. So decided to put it behind the license plate.

BIG Shout out to PeterV for helping me with this at his house. Heated garages are the best!!!!

I have an aftermarket bumper -oettinger, but I think the process would be rather similar for a stock bumper. Car is an 03 Jetta tdi.


Take the license plate and bracket off, in my case I had to get bumper off first to get to the screws holding the bracket.
Put the bumper back on, and use the license plate holes as a reference to mark on the crash bumper metal ( I used a drill to do this).
This will tell you roughly how to center the plug, and also where it has to go in relation to the bracket holes to the bumper.

You can then cut the hole in the crash bumper:
You can see the frostheater cord inside the bumper - bumper is hollow




Next cut a hole in the bumper. Check twice or four times, to get the right spot. These two holes need to align!



Install the marinco ; in this case I added a pig tail plug to the marinco, so that I can disconnect the bumper from the car easily. Using this 1 foot cord from stayonline - http://www.stayonline.com/detail.aspx?id=28519 cutting it up a bit, some dielectric grease and quick disconnect here you go!



Re-assemble the bumper to the car, remember to plug in the marinco!

Plate folded down, installed this way so if the spring breaks the plate will still hide the marinco and show the plate. The concept of failing "safe", safe in this case is license plate visible, and marinco shielded from the road.


Plate up ready to access the marinco. The marinco was installed so that if I forget to push the cap back in, it will cover the plug connections by default.


Plugged in and heating!



I am still torn about the install of the flip up, since you can see the hinges, but its not overly obvious. Installing with the hinges down would have hidden it even more, but when (not not if) the spring breaks the license plate would flop down and cause me more work to repair etc. This way, even if the spring breaks, the license plate is properly visible and marinco is still hidden.

HWgeek said:

I am still torn about the install of the flip up, since you can see the hinges, but its not overly obvious. Installing with the hinges down would have hidden it even more, but when (not not if) the spring breaks the license plate would flop down and cause me more work to repair etc. This way, even if the spring breaks, the license plate is properly visible and marinco is still hidden.

Click to expand...

Plus if the hinges were on the bottom and it was plugged in it would catch snow and make its way to the plug

Good install ... Maybe this summer I might get around to doing this

Good point! This way if its outside and its snowing, it still fully protected. That settles it, second jetta will be done the same way! Thanks!

What?? Its much more fun to do it in the middle of the cold winter. The benefits afterwards are oh so much more rewarding!

rentstdi said:

Plus if the hinges were on the bottom and it was plugged in it would catch snow and make its way to the plug

Good install ... Maybe this summer I might get around to doing this

Click to expand...

Love it! Nice job! Great to see this resurrected once in a while with such good and well-executed ideas!!

Winter's here again. My plug-in TDI.

NOCO plug installed in my TDI: http://youtu.be/N_7aDY5Ge_A
Mine. I'll be doing one more on the wagon soon.

I was going to go this route with my Frostheater. The connector looked like a much higher quality unit.

http://www.hubbellcatalog.com/wiring/section-v-datasheet.asp?FAM=Marine&PN=HBL61CM64

Black - HBL61CM64BK

In the end I just bought this : http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d....oap?ck=Search_N0650_-1_-1&pt=N0650&ppt=C0076

Free pickup at the store.

I just keep my cord (with a protector like the one you decided on) under the hood when driving and raise the hood and plug it in when parked. Kind of an inconvenience but it sure keeps the connector clean. On my 2010 JSW I let it hang out of the grill with that rubber protector and the plug still became corroded and got frozen on with ice.

Terry recommends not to use dielectric grease on the connector. I have an email into him asking the reason why. It seems like some dielectric grease inside the plug protector would keep it corrosion free?

Edit - Terry is fast....
[FONT=&quot]According to the manufacturer of the heater unit itself, ZeroStart, grease increases the resistance and will melt the plug-end.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

My plug has been working well. Car is daily driven. There seems to be no corossion or moisture or even dust under the cap.

Corrosion adds more resistance than a little dielectric does. I wouldn't worry.

Just put this on my 05 Passat tonight. Went with the pass side cause there was more room due to the intercooler being on the driver side.
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